Political, TV stars speak at Redding's logging conference

By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press

REDDING, Calif. -- Timber industries are "self-policing" because "we want to have jobs for the next generation," a reality-TV celebrity assured conference attendees here.

Mike Pihl, whose Vernonia, Ore., logging company is featured on the cable TV show "Ax Men," said that painting a true picture of the beleaguered forestry industry is his primary mission.

"Yesterday I was on six or seven different radio stations here in town," Pihl said during a kickoff breakfast for the Sierra Cascade Logging Conference on Feb. 11. "The reason they asked me to do that was 'Ax Men.' But I like to promote our industry."

Protecting the beleaguered timber industry's public image was a recurring theme of the week-long conference, which started Feb. 8 with an appearance by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Palin packed the Redding Convention Center for two speeches, in which she criticized what she sees as the state's heavy-handed environmental laws.

Other attractions during the conference included seminars on biomass, carbon sequestration and fire safety, logging sports exhibitions, a "backhoe rodeo" and the Forest Products and Construction Equipment Exposition.

A trade publication recommended Pihl, owner of Pihl Logging, Inc., to the History Channel for its reality show, which debuted in 2008. The third season of "Ax Men" began in January.

He said working in the constant eye of cameras took some getting used to. Camera crews are on the job site for three months, 10 hours a day for six days a week. Other, smaller cameras are seemingly duct-taped to everything, he said.

"You need to be very careful what you do out there" so you don't damage a camera, Pihl said. "You always want to look around."

While the cameras were an intrusion at first, within a few days they forgot about them, he said. And that can be dicey, he said, because invariably someone will throw a fit.

"The show's not necessarily made for loggers, it's made for the public," Pihl said. "And that's why it's so popular -- it's the personalities."

The show has drawn the attention of Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials, which has slapped the logging and production companies with fines for various infractions. But sometimes camera angles and dramatization make things look more dangerous than they are, Pihl said.

Loggers appearing on the show had to agree to a thick contract that stipulated they could be filmed even partially clothed or nude, or doing "immoral acts," Pihl said.

"So I'm thinking, wow, what a great time to quit drinking," he quipped.

The contract is for five years, and Pihl said he didn't get paid right away because the network was waiting to see how the show fared. But the notoriety gives him a chance to talk to people about the industry, he said.

"I like to spread the word of hard-working people," he said. "Redding and the Sierra Cascade Logging Conference have made me feel very welcome. It's just been great."